Opinion Vs. News At Google News
Scanning the listings on the Google News page this morning, I was surprised to see an article titled “Dispelling the Myths About Iraq:” by the Heritage Foundation. For those who might not know, the Heritage Foundation is a Conservative “think tank” that exists solely to push the Neo-Conservative agenda. They're shills for the Republican Party and the Bush Administration, and can be relied upon for a steady stream of propaganda and spin.
So why was this article on Google News at all? It is not news. It's an opinion piece intended to serve as a Neo-Conservative rebuttal to the assertions of many that the Iraq war is a mess of epic proportions. It's Neo-Con propaganda. It addresses statements made by the same old tired list of “Liberal enemies” of Conservatives. Ted Kennedy. John Kerry. Howard Dean. Etc. And, of course, it starts out by addressing the recent statements made by their newest enemy John Murtha.
The inclusion of this article on the main page of Google News makes me wonder if the Heritage Foundation's efforts to push farther into the mainstream are being successful. Previously no one really listened to them other than Right-Wingers anyway. Now I'm not so sure. For one thing, they've recently established a web site which is cloaked in the standard Neo-Con mis-use of popular phrasing. It's called My Heritage, and is packaged as the Heritage Foundation's version of a news web site.
The “articles,” on this web site are not news articles at all, but opinion pieces that push Republican talking points, garnered from Conservative sources such as the National Review. Examples are; De-bunking myths about Wal-Mart. Socialism from the WHO. Will America have borders again? Included as well is a section title Myth Busters, which is used to dispel “Liberal myths.”
My point is that The Heritage Foundation is not a news organization at all, regardless of how they might spin their image with the MyHeritage web site. Their passionate spin has no place being listed alongside genuine news articles. The fact that they have been, and others like them have been, should worry any American who values the notion of impartiality in news reporting. This organization and everything it publishes is intended solely to push the Neo-Conservative agenda in the “culture wars” that the Neo-Cons are waging against the American people and American Democracy.
The Heritage Foundation is the last place that should be listed as a news source on a mainstream web site such as Google News. My contention here is certainly not that Google News has a Conservative agenda. Far from it. What worries me is that the Neo-Cons have been so successful at concealing their over-all agenda from mainstream scrutiny that their opinion pieces are showing up alongside genuine news articles. The Neo-Con agenda is proving so successful that mainstream organizations such as Google News are having a hard time telling what is genuine news and what is spin.
The Neo-Cons have been that successful. They've pushed the myth that the average American is a staunch conservative and popularized the notion that anyone who disagrees with them is not just a Liberal but a flower-wielding hippie leftover from the sixties drug culture. The Bush Administration used the same tactic by demonizing anyone who disagrees with them, questioning the critics' patriotism and dismissing them outright as part of “the Michael Moore camp.”
I suppose in the end the Neo-Cons are right about one thing. America is certainly engaged in a “culture war.” But the primary thing which most Americans don't understand about that is that this war was started by the Neo-Conservatives, and has been spearheaded by organizations such as The Heritage Foundation. In short, the United States is facing a political invasion. President Bush's 2000 election was a bloodless coup orchestrated by the Neo-Conservatives. At that point the average American was behind enemy lines. The effectiveness of the Neo-Cons is that they've managed to blind the average American from realizing that.
This is one of the things that The Watch was established to warn people about. Way back in the late 1990's, when so many voices belittled our “paranoia” in our warnings about the Religious Right and the push of the Conservative agenda, we alerted our members of the activities of organizations such as The Heritage Foundation. Now, so many years later, those belittling voices have fallen silent. In fact, the new reality is far worse than anyone imagined.
When I see Heritage Foundation propaganda listed alongside genuine news articles on a mainstream news web site, I fear the battle may be lost.
Wicasta Lovelace
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posted by Wicasta @ 11:01 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I would hope that anyone signing up for "MyHeritage" or browsing heritage.org would realize that they are reading the words of a Conservative think tank. Of course they are biased and pointed, but informative nonetheless. A fair argument has been made that bias creeps into NY Times, Wash Post, CBS News and just about everything at ABC.
I take issue with the notion that Heritage Foundation are shills for Bush and the GOP. In fact, most of the MyHeritage newsletter that linked to your blog, was highly critical of excessive Bush/Congressional spending since Bush took office in 2001.
I think it says something positive about them that they added a link to your blog entry so we could examine your point of view for ourselves. I'm glad I did.
The Heritage Foundation is no Neo-Con group, but a group of folks who want less government, less taxes, and adherence to the Constitution. I agree with this. I am no rabid Republican, nor am I a church goer, but I have watched this country go from a great country to falling apart. A country where illegal immigrants receive free education, housing and food; a country where supreme court justices make laws instead of enforcing them; a country where simple common sense has been thrown out the door. I support the Heritage Foundation - and I urge all my friends and family to, as well. Even some of my liberal friends have seen where the far left is leading and wisely pulled away.
Every point you made comes from the Neo-Conservative talking points handbook, whether you consider yourself a Neo-Con or not. Oddly enough, there is little variation in the opinions expressed by mainstream Conservatives or Neo-Conservatives. I've read the talking points. It seemed like a bunch of junk to me, so I'm not going there.
Feel free to do so, but don't try to convince me that the Heritage Foundation is not a Neo-Conservative organization when your points could have been lifted directly from their literature, and those very same talking points can be found freely expressed by every Neo-Con and every Neo-Con organization.
Just remember. When you're as far to the right as the Heritage Foundation and others like them, the middle of the road seems to be extreme left.
When you are as far to the left as the liberal camp and others like them, the midle of the road seems to be the extreme right .....
Your last comment is laughable. I think I'll up my Heritage contribution this year.
As a lifelong Democrat, I get the impression that your fear is that some of the values of honor, character, honesty, patriotism, love of family, love of children...including those not crying yet, and others that preceded the '60s will show their ugly heads again. There a lots of folks who would rather fight than lose the level of decadence they have grown accustomed to living with. Assuming most Americans share coastal values and claiming anyone who expresses contrary or even balanced opinions must be taking their opinions from a Heritage talk sheet seems awfully parochial and arrogant to me.
I debated about how best to respond to these comments. My initial reaction was to ignore them. None of you have said anything other than what I would expect to hear from people who support the Heritage Foundation. As most disagreements with Conservatives turn out, this immediately became playground politics. They're right, I'm wrong. Neener neener. Etcetera. Etcetera. The script never changes.
But I think I should respond. And I will, point by point, and person by person. But first off, to all of them, I want to say that if you assume that I am a Liberal because I disagree with you, your view of the world must surely have come from the Neo-Conservatives. If you believe that I am a Democrat because I am not a Republican, you really need to get beyond this “us vs. them” philosophy. My views on most things would startle the hell out of most Liberals. My views on some things would startle Conservatives by just how conservative they are. You can't paint me with the broad brush you use against everyone who holds a different viewpoint and then congratulate yourself on an accurate portrait. If you believe you can do so, you are most assuredly a fool.
1) Milkchaser
I have to disagree that the Heritage Foundation has been highly critical of the Bush Administration. The Heritage Foundation's brand of criticism in regard to President Bush started when Bush began to back away somewhat from the unsustainable Neo-Conservative agenda. Essentially they have scolded him and insisted that he either return to the fold or lose the support of Neo-Conservatives. They're angry at Bush because he hasn't been doing what he's been told to do by his Neo-Conservative masters. That hardly qualifies as genuine criticism.
I also found it humorous that you said that “it says something positive” about the Heritage Foundation that they linked to my blog entry. They cherry-picked a specific phrase, quoted it out of context to make it sound like I said something that I didn't, and thereby misrepresented the content of the rest of my opinion. That's fairly standard for a Conservative organization, but I don't see how such misrepresentation is positive.
2) jim cyr
You lost me right from the start by mentioning your “leftist” days. Leftist? Lefties? The Heritage Foundation is “exposing” today's “left”? You're tilting at windmills, Jim. While I certainly believe that there are people whose politics and world-view are so far left that they're living in the opposing extreme of the same fantasy world Neo-Conservatives are living in, only a Neo-Con could think that there's some kind of organized “left-wing” agenda. Every struggle needs an enemy, yes? In the absence of one the Neo-Cons have created their own bogey-man.
3) ronan
I can't give you credit for being clever. That was a clumsy attempt to use my own words against me. I suppose I deserve it. I despise the use of slogans and catch-phrases, and yet I spun one to make a point. That was lazy on my part. Other than feeling that I should clarify that, your post was a yawner. More “neener ” That's all it was.
4) tomw
If you're already a contributor to the Heritage Foundation, it should surprise no one that you considered my last comment to be laughable. You've been indoctrinated into automatically believing that anyone who says anything that contradicts Heritage Foundation propaganda is laughable. They're stupid. Etcetera. There's no need for me to go any further here. You know all the catch-phrases, I'm sure.
5) russ cyphers
To be honest, Russ, I had to read your comment several times to figure out who you were talking to. But in the end, after I'd read it a few times, I realized that it was more of the same and it was addressed to me. Better worded, true, from the usual rubbish. Sort of. But you still only said “I know you are, but what am I?” Insert “neener neener” here. I've never heard the phrase “coastal values,” and so I looked it up. Wow. I had no idea. Okay, so let me get this straight. The majority of Americans are being force-feed the values of Liberals on the coasts; “east coast” meaning New York City and “west coast” meaning Los Angeles / California. Coastal values. I get it. Man. That's such a Conservative concept. Oddly enough, that's exactly where I found my definitions. On Conservative web sites. It sounds odd to hear a Democrat using such terminology. I can only assume that when you say “Democrat” you mean the party of Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms (who were both Democrats back in the good old days before black people could vote). They call those kinds of Democrats “Dixie-Crats,” and they formed the core of the Neo-Conservative mental floss. I have a few in my family. First and foremost is my uncle, Jack, who is quick to remind people that he is a Democrat, but hasn't voted for a Democrat since the 70s, and sends me daily nasty e-mails about Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, etcetera, along with with e-mail about God's love.
I've looked back to those days before the wretched 1960's that Conservatives despise so much. Given your prodding, I considered those days again, looking for that honor, character, honesty, patriotism, love of family, love of children, etc., that apparently didn't survive the hippie generation, but which formed the basis of human reality prior to that. I couldn't find anything remotely resembling it. The only people who think that there was ever such a mythical time in American history are white Conservatives. Everyone else knows better.
Apparently since I disagree with you and your Conservative masters, I have no honor, character, honesty, patriotism, love of family, love of children, etc. Wow. You discerned all of that about me because I didn't drink the Heritage Foundation's particular brand of Neo-Conservative Kool-Aid (that's a Rev. Jim Jones reference, if you don't know; look it up). You must be incredibly perceptive to ascertain such detail about a person based solely on the fact that they disagree with the Heritage Foundation.
I don't know what kind of life you lead. Myself, I'm married to a lovely woman. I have a modest house in a small Southern town. We drive a mini-van. My mother lives with us, and we fully support her. My mother was one of eleven children who grew up in poverty that most people cannot imagine. My grandfather, great-grandfather and numerous uncles and cousins were or are all Baptist preachers (that means Christian). I pay my taxes. I work hard to support my family. I don't lie, cheat, steal or believe in conveniently twisting the truth until it says what you want it to say (which is why I can't be a Republican). You're right. I would rather fight than lose the level of decadence that I and my family have grown accustomed to living with. We've worked long and hard for what little we have, and I'm not about to give it up so that the Neo-Conservatives can line the pockets of the richest Americans in the country and fool themselves into believing that somehow or another it will trickle down to the rest of us. There was a time when I and my family would have been considered a perfect example of the average American family (though my wife cannot have children; which I assume makes us a radical variation on the Neo-Conservative model of “family.”). Now, thanks to organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, I can't pass a sign that says “family restaurant” without wondering if that means “Christian only” or be critical of political leaders without being branded anti-American. Unlike most Neo-Conservatives, I think democracy is a pretty nifty idea. I'm not willing to let to it fall by the wayside so that Halliburton and the other top Republican contributors can funnel the national treasury into their 401k plans.
6) Neo-Cons in general
Your faith, patriotism and honor must be incredibly weak if the only way you can defend them is by attacking the faith, patriotism and honor of those who disagree with you. Every one of the comments to my post about the Heritage Foundation and the MyHeritage web site has said essentially the same thing, albeit in different ways. Every one of them had an undercurrent of anger. How dare I disagree? They've been mean-spirited. Condescending. Derogatory. Insulting. Some more than others, certainly. But the same theme comes from all Neo-Conservatives. A lot of you have told me that I should go back to wherever I came from. I guess the assumption is that I must have been born in Russia or something. Sorry. No. I was born in North Carolina. That's in the United States, if you don't know. I'm American by birth and by inclination. I can't return to where I came from because I've never left. When I walk out into my front yard, I look at the flag that flies from a modest pole mounted to my house. I don't see a Republican flag. I see an American flag. That's an idea you people had better get used to. You're going to be able to change the definition of the word “American” to mean “Republican.” If you do, the greatest experiment in the history of mankind will come to an end. Democracy will cease to exist in this country. You will have what you have always wanted. Absolute power and control. At that time I am certain that Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini will be smiling down upon you from whatever netherworld they inhabit. You will have accomplished what they could not. I hope you will be proud of your work.
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